Word.ws English Dictionary

alignment problem

alignment problem proper noun: the problem of how to create a superintelligent artificial intelligence whose values would align with the interests of humankind.

Proper noun

alignment problem

  1. (artificial intelligence) The problem of how to create a superintelligent artificial intelligence whose values would align with the interests of humankind.
    • As [Brian] Christian notes, the alignment problem bears a real resemblance to parenting: “The story of human civilization has always been about how to instill values in strange, alien, human-level intelligences who will inevitably inherit the reins of society from us—namely, our kids.”2022 March 1, Rob Toews, “7 Must-Read Books About Artificial Intelligence”, in Forbes, New York, N.Y.: Forbes Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 31 Aug 2022
    • Properly defining and solving the alignment problem won’t be easy; it will require us to develop a broad, scientifically based theory of intelligence.2022 December 13, Melanie Mitchell, “What Does It Mean to Align AI With Human Values?”, in Quanta Magazine, New York, N.Y.: Simons Foundation, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 15 Mar 2023

Origin of alignment problem

Popularized by the 2020 book The Alignment Problem by Brian Christian.

Questions about alignment problem

What does alignment problem mean?
Alignment problem means the problem of how to create a superintelligent artificial intelligence whose values would align with the interests of humankind.
What part of speech is alignment problem?
Alignment problem is a proper noun.

Words near alignment problem in the dictionary

  1. alignment
  2. alignment chart
  3. alignment charts
  4. alignment diagram
  5. alignment diagrams
  6. alignment problem
  7. alignment tax
  8. alignment taxes
  9. alignments
  10. aligns
  11. aligot

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: alignment problem (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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